Time of Change (Emerilia Book 7)

by Michael Chatfield

  “You use your relaxed attitude and your money to blind people to the fact that you’re just using them!” the student spat. His arguments from before were now blatant attacks on Dave.

  “Think what you want. I ain’t your mom or dad to tell you what I think you should do.” Dave shook his head and clapped his hands together.

  “I bet you don’t even code. You just use others for it!”

  “I certainly work with a number of people who can code. I can’t do everything by myself!” Dave laughed. “Now, let’s get along with the lesson, shall we?”

  “He’s trying to deceive you, to make you his slaves to take you away from the true art of magical coding!” the man yelled out to everyone. Then, he disappeared from existence.

  “Okay, well, seems someone learned Magical Circuitry, but didn’t want to learn coding and had a bone to pick. Now let’s get back to material usage,” Dave said, talking as if nothing happened.

  A few people laughed and smiled. They’d come to learn, not have someone use their class for a political speech.

  “As you know, different metals have different conductivity; they also have different heating temperatures. With the magic of magic,” Dave grinned at the light laughter in the room, “we can do a lot more to remove this excess heat, purify these metals to a high degree and allow us to code runes that, with Mana running through them, would overload the metal and melt it. With a proper heat sink or heat extraction,” as Dave talked, an image of two different runes appeared above him, “we can increase the number of runes on a piece of metal without fear of overheating. Now! Quick question—if I’m coding something complicated, what is better: a single big sheet of coding or multiple small ones?” Dave looked out at the classroom. Someone raised their hand.

  “You in the blue,” Dave said.

  “Multiple smaller pieces,” she said.

  “Why?” Dave asked.

  “With more pieces, you can cool them down more. The heat won’t rise from multiple different locations as complex runes heat up more; you can focus your heat draw away from the runes,” she said.

  “Very good! Also having it in smaller pieces makes it much easier to replace! Otherwise you’ve got to have someone with a high Dark Affinity come along to remove what you’ve done! That said, I personally prefer to work with massive sheets, carve in my code, and then cut it down into more manageable sections,” Dave admitted.

  Someone raised their hand.

  Dave pointed to them.

  “What about the complex arrays that have interchangeable coding?”

  “Looks like we’ve got some good questions today! Well, it would all depend on what you’re trying to do. There are multiple different ways to do that. One of the most simple is the circular formation. You can move the different sections of the circle, matching the coding up so that it works. This can work for an off and on switch as well as limited changes. More complicated it is, the more confusing it becomes. The second, which I like, is the slot method. You have your sheets or individual runes; then you simply have them in different racks—you can pull and place them as you need,” Dave said.

  “What about for more complicated circuits and codes like a teleport pad?” the same person asked.

  “Well, then there are two different ways. You either have a command code set up, kind of like a computer and then you add code sheets to it, like you would traditionally code back on Earth. Or, make a highly complicated interchanging system that moves around the individual lines of code or the runes,” Dave said.

  A bell sounded in the auditorium.

  “Okay, so that’s the end of class. If you’ve been having your coding melt, try the different cooling methods! Also, all of my lessons are saved into the archives, so you can access them at any time. I’ll see you all later!” Dave waved to them all and disappeared from the auditorium stage.

  He stood up from his chair, cracking his back and yawning.

  He simply had too many projects to work on. He had been able to offload different parts to the Dwarven Master Smiths or the coders he or his companies had hired.

  He was still working to optimize the summoning hall. He had finished with his power sources; he needed to get started on the armor he planned for, but the Dwarven Master Smiths weren’t yet finished with their different components. He had paused in working on his more powerful weapons and although he had plans for a ship, he was again waiting on others to make the various different components. Although he wanted to get working on the ships months ago, there was little time for him to do so. Also, it wasn’t as needed as other projects and the coding and tech needed was far more advanced than what Dave had. He’d offloaded most of it off onto Shard and Bob, who were taking Jukal systems, reverse engineering them and looking to use corresponding runes to code it. With Bob’s knowledge and Shard’s ability to translate technology into magical coding, it was moving along at an incredible rate of speed.

  Dave looked around his apartment. “Okay, this sitting around and working on magical coding is all good, but sometimes you’ve got to take a break.” Dave stood, a smile on his face. Today he wouldn’t work on coding. It was about time he checked out the Dwarven tournaments.

  ***

  Deia had been working with the DCA forces for a month and a half. She floated up to meet with Quindar and Anna. They had all been working hard with their forces to strengthen them, but now they would have another fight to see where the DCA needed to improve.

  It was the ground forces’ job to hold a small fort and some outposts that had been made in the forested region of the northwestern sector.

  The aerial forces were to find the enemies’ positions and then defeat them.

  “So, what do you think will happen this time?” Quindar asked.

  “Well, Malkur and Efri have stopped micromanaging so much and the chain of command pulled themselves together. I’m hoping that they lost some of their cockiness, but I don’t know the results.” Anna shrugged.

  “How did Kala’s people do?” Quindar asked.

  “They did well, taking in what I was saying pretty quickly. We got them working and understanding magic a lot more. They’re like friggin’ sponges for information. They’ve become better at fighting both in close and at range. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. That said, I’m thinking, and hoping, that they will come to a draw,” Deia said.

  “Oh?” Quindar said, curious as to Deia’s reasoning.

  “Well, if they come to a draw, then they get to see what the other group is capable of. Up to this point, they have been competing against one another. If we have them show that they’re both pretty good, we can start to show them that by working together they can fight a lot more people and come out victorious. Both of them have their strengths and weaknesses. Together, they’re stronger than when they’re apart,” Deia said.

  Anna nodded slowly in agreement. “We want them to fight in small groups, but to still be able to come together, supporting one another when they need it. To do that, they need to know that they can rely on one another because they’re both strong and fierce at what they do.”

  “You two are tricky,” Quindar said.

  They moved off toward the forest, while the other trainers of the different groups mingled together at the camp, having a few beers and watching the men and women they had trained fight it out on their interfaces and the large seer stones.

  The training exercise started with the flyers taking to the sky. The ground forces scattered outward through the forest, making a number of scouts watch for the aerial forces, while the forces in the outposts and fort did their best to hide their different fortifications’ positions.

  The flyers didn’t come in fast and confident as they had with the first training exercise. Now, they floated above, looking down at possible targets. They relayed what they saw back to the flyers waiting on the ground. They continued flying, making no indication that they had seen something.

  “Good. They’re not reacting. Even if the fo
rces on the ground see them, they won’t know if they’ve been spotted or not,” Deia said with approval.

  “Telling the scouts to not rush in but observe was a big blow to many of them. We had to switch a few people around.” Anna didn’t sound pleased.

  The scouts checked over the forest a few more times. Malkur and Efri sent out probing attacks. They moved over the forest, bombing different areas.

  “They’re dropping bombs in locations other than where they suspect the ground forces might be to make it look kind of random, making the enemy think that they just got some lucky hits in and try to hold their position,” Quindar commented.

  “Smart,” Deia said.

  The flyers kept up the bombing for a number of hours. The ground forces had to work overtime, telling the command where the multiple bombing flyers were coming from. Their height was too much to hit without a mass attack that would point out the location of the ground forces.

  Slowly, the aerial forces became more and more accurate with their hits, taking out the different outposts as they were revealed.

  It was clear that the ground forces were getting frustrated, but through it, Deia was smiling.

  “Your people are getting hit pretty hard. What are you seeing that we aren’t?” Quindar said.

  “The aerial forces’ defenses,” Deia said with a sly smile.

  Anna smacked her head as Quindar looked to the aerial forces and then swore under her breath.

  “You’re used to being on the offensive. Dragons don’t really need to come down from the sky if they don’t want to and Anna is always in the middle of the fight. While aerial forces do have great striking power, how well versed are they with close armed combat?” Deia asked.

  “They’re okay, but not the best. We taught them to scoot and move, get a better line of attack and come back to hit the enemy, and don’t rush into airborne enemies unless you have to. The likelihood of hurting your own people accidentally or getting wounded and dropping out of the sky is too high.” Quindar sighed.

  “I can see your ground forces now,” Anna said. “When did they leave the defendable fortifications?”

  “They left as soon as it started. They moved out with the scouts in every direction. When they saw the direction that the aerial forces were coming from, they sent their people back in that direction.” Deia smiled.

  “Damn, should have circled around and come over the forest at an obscure direction to make it harder,” Quindar said.

  “Mhmm.” Deia looked to her ground forces. They had moved through the forests, moving as fast as possible while also being stealthy. They had moved in groups no larger than ten and spaced out.

  This is where small group tactics came to the fore. They all started coming together. They checked out the aerial forces’ camp that was set up in a clearing. There were tents that held food and water for the people coming back as well as other tents with soul gems to charge their weapons and armor. Then, there were planning tents where the leadership were meeting.

  The aerial forces continued to bomb the almighty hell out of the outposts and forts. The ground forces that were remaining in the structures were getting whittled down, because there was little to nothing that they could do.

  Just as the aerial forces were on the cusp of victory, the ground forces struck. They didn’t even leave the cover of the forest. Spearheads flashed out from the underbrush; inert grenades were thrown into the leadership, soul gem recharge, and canteen tents.

  Chaos reigned through the camp as Krenua’s people tapped people who were “dead” and they had to lie down, watching as spear points tore through their camp. Larger spearheads that simulated Mana bombs also landed in their midst.

  “What is with the Mana bombs?” Anna asked.

  “We took the Mana bomb circuit from the aerial’s breastplate, took it to the Aleph, asked them to speed up how fast it shot out. They’re really short range, but they’re as good as your aerial forces’ and not as annoying to lug around as Dwarven artillery. A Dwarf trainer came up with the idea,” Deia said, proud of her people.

  The aerial forces tried to retaliate, while others tried to take to the skies. It was true chaos on the ground. Nearly four thousand of the ground force soldiers had been lying around the camp. They had anywhere from an hour to ten minutes to move into the best positions.

  Now, they were hitting the largest targets with precision, killing anything that tried to put up a fight. Still, they didn’t charge inward but stayed back, firing everything they had into the camp.

  Fifty thousand were reduced to fifteen who were able to escape.

  The ground forces disappeared into the underbrush as spears rained from above, the aerial forces trying to kill them off.

  “I think that we can call this one a draw,” Anna said.

  “Agreed,” Deia said.

  Both of them were proud of their people. The ground forces had learned how to think on their feet and more about fighting techniques. The aerial forces had learned coordination and to make the best of their situation.

  They were much stronger than just a few months ago. Now, it was time to put the two groups together and see them work as one fighting force.

  Deia’s heart twisted in her chest. There was barely a month left until the first waves of creatures from Bob’s prison were supposed to be released, about the same time until she was expecting her child.

  She placed her hand on her stomach. Her heart felt constricted as she worried about the future.

  Chapter 20: Dragon’s Wrath

  Akatol felt unease as more of his ice palace’s defenses were being steadily eroded away. When he expected that they would run out of Mana and would have to leave, they stayed. They stayed well past what he had thought their limits would be. He thought that he had a few months to complete his preparations. Instead, he had been working with minimal sleep and rest in order to complete his designs. He was supplying his ice palace directly with some of his power to try to slow his family down more. The power drain was making it harder for him to focus, but he needed time more than anything.

  He had commanded his total domain to increase. It was a large power draw, but it was showing results, tearing the waters out of everything nearby. He was draining the nearby lake, killing creatures and items across a great area. From all the power that was flowing in, he was creating blood soul gems.

  Blood soul gems are made from the life-force of creatures within another creature. Akatol was not done with the bodies of those ill-fated Players who had wandered into his domain. There was barely a flicker of power left in them, but it was enough to hold them. As they were being used as mediums for Akatol’s spell, the bodies had stayed around. He poured power into them, their bodies being imbued with the power of hundreds of other creatures and altered through a blood seal. They were transforming into blood soul gems.

  Once they were complete, Akatol took the soul gems, crushed them up, added some of his own blood and then used them to create his powerful magical circle. It filled up the mountain.

  Akatol was half crazed from the sleep deprivation and the thoughts that his family had betrayed him. He wanted them to see the light! They were the true rulers of Emerilia! They just needed to take it!

  He had just started to draw out a formation with his claw as he felt something break. He looked up. His senses expanded outward, as he found a crack in his ice palace.

  “No! They should have taken two more weeks!” Akatol yelled, oblivious of the fact that he had lost track of time with his work.

  He poured energy into the ice palace and turned back to his work. With his recovered energy, he was able to reduce the effectiveness of the other Dragons’ attacks as he burnt the energy he had taken from sacrifices he had made throughout his life.

  ***

  Denur moved forward. Her attack intensified as she noticed a portion of the ice palace that had not simply melted but appeared to be cracking.

  Induca and Malsour had wanted to be there to help in ending
their father’s legacy of death. Denur had fought against it. The two of them were in Terra working on increasing their strength and on various projects. They were now two of the stronger Dragons among the Dracul family.

  If Denur was to fall, she knew that Induca and Malsour could rise up to become the pillars of the family. If they were to all die, then there could be a power vacuum that would leave the family with an uncertain future.

  As she got close enough, she raised her body up. Her front feet dug into the ice palace, both of her claws tearing great chunks of ice from it. They seemed to glow with red light as the damage increased.

  The rest of her family, sensing that victory was at hand, moved to add in their own attacks.

  Those who were outside the total domain sent messages to the Dragons who were resting in the Mithsia Mountains.

  Denur saw a part of the ice palace fall inward! She doubled her power output. Her breath turned to a white flame from the heat given off. Puddles fell around her as she climbed up on the ice palace. There was a surge of power from inside.

  Akatol was fighting back.

  No, you don’t! Denur focused her attack on the weakness. She lost track of how long she was there, but she could hear the howls and roars filled the skies as her sons, daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters and five different generations announced their arrival.

  They came in out of the night sky, their breaths lighting up the sky. Night seemed to have a second sun under their onslaught.

  There was an almighty cracking noise as a part of the ice palace gave way.

  They continued their attacks, tearing and attacking the palace in any way they could. Suddenly, a whole section of the ice palace fell away.

  “Follow me! Bring in everyone! Destroy the total domain magical circle!” Denur yelled, jumping into the hole in the ice palace.

  The magical circle was made in blood and bound to Akatol. Magical attacks wouldn’t be even a tenth of their strength in this area. However, physical attacks could easily break up the lines of blood.